Public urged to ‘only buy fuel they need’
The National Emergency Coordination Group has urged the public “to only buy the fuel they need” as more and more forecourts run dry on the fifth day of widespread protests and blockades.
The cross-sectoral co-ordinatioon group met today to assess the ongoing situation, issuing advice to members of the public that in order to ease local fuel supplies “only buy the fuel they need”.
“The public is also warned that storing fuel at home or in unsafe locations presents significant safety risks,” the group said in a lengthy statement on Saturday afternoon.
The NECG said that storage capacity at some Irish ports was now becoming a concern and that there will be “limited ability to offload further containers in some ports shortly.”
In the last few minutes, An Garda Síochána has held a press conference after it moved to an enforcement phase around protesters impacting on critical infrastructure
“The NECG heard concerns that workers, including essential workers, may not have sufficient access to fuel to drive to and from their places of work, jeopardising the provision of critical services, health services, as well as business operations,” the group said in its statement.
It also warned there are emerging regional challenges affecting deliveries, primarily due to constrained distributor access to fuel and delays moving goods to and from logistics hubs, rather than stock shortages.
“Critical supply chains, including pharmaceuticals and time‑sensitive products, are particularly reliant on uninterrupted access to fuel, ports and a mobile workforce in order to maintain 24‑hour operations and reach market.
“While key operators in logistics and supply chains have on‑site fuel buffers and are actively managing capacity, ongoing transport disruption is already affecting the timeliness of certain deliveries and increasing operational pressures across the supply chain,” the group said.
It also warned that the continued obstruction across the country’s wider road network is “everely limiting the distribution of fuel and are impeding efforts to ensure that adequate supplies reach emergency services.”
However “arrangements are in place to ensure that principal response agencies such as the National Ambulance Service and the Fire Service can access fuel as required.”
“Due to the ongoing restrictions in supply to retail outlets arising from various blockades and traffic obstruction, the sustainability of fuel supplies for emergency vehicles continues to be a matter of growing concern as does the ability of staff to report for duty. If the current situation continues, the risk of service curtailment will become more likely,” the group warned.
Conal Thomas
